We have a script!
As production continues on Officer Murphy’s Bad Day, we managed to reach a crucial milestone today. We finished and locked down the script.
Our locked script runs to just over 14 pages and 76 scenes. That seems like a lot, but our writing on this script is a bit more verbose than what would be considered the industry standard. We wrote the script so that each scene represents a single shot, including camera directions and scene transitions, as well as a detailed description of the action. We think that the script will actually weigh in at 30 seconds/page rather than film’s usual 1 minute/page.
On any film project, the script is the roadmap delineating all of the assets, performances, and FX required to reach the objective – a completed film. Though there may be some additions and deletions to the roadmap as the project moves towards completion, the script covers every major and minor element anticipated to be part of the film. Without it – without having a script ready to go – there is really no way to complete a film.
As such, the script is the first priority in the preproduction process.
We’ll look at preproduction in more detail in later posts, but broadly speaking, preproduction covers everything you do before actually creating frames of film, or animation in our case. Because the preproduction process is so broad, it becomes very easy to get bogged down or sidetracked. The script is what will keep you moving forwards as efficiently as possible.
If you’re starting out on your own project, focus on getting your script done first. It will make everything else in filmmaking that much easier and faster
Tags: Animation, Filmmaking, Scriptwriting